RIAA Wins Copyright Lawsuit Against Usenet.com

The music industry won a victory in federal district court against Usenet.com Inc., a company that allows users to exchange files such as articles and songs on different newsgroups.

The ruling, from the Southern District of New York, gives the industry more ammunition to go after companies that facilitate unauthorized distribution of songs, even as it ratchets down its suits on individuals.

“We hope that other bad actors who are engaging in similar activity will take note of this decisive opinion,” said Steven Marks, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, RIAA. A lawyer for Usenet didn’t immediately return a call for comment.

Usenet works differently from filesharing technology, as material is stored on servers and then made available from a single server on demand. By contrast, filesharing networks allow users to grab pieces of any given file from all over the Internet.

While Usenet groups get overlooked as the masses flock to peer-to-peer filesharing networks, they’re an oldie-but-goody that many people have stuck with to snag music and other files. “It’s been around so long and worked so well,” says Eric Garland, chief executive officer of Big Champagne LLC, a piracy consultancy. “Why would they leave if it ain’t broken?”